Left waves toy guns in assembly, Mamata slams Left

The West Bengal assembly on Tuesday witnessed noisy scenes after Left legislators waved toy guns to denounce the display of firearms during a Trinamool Congress march a day earlier.

Videos broadcast by TV channels showed a few people dancing with firearms during the procession, waving flags of the ruling party in Kandi in Murshidabad district.

Waving the toy guns, the Left legislators demanded a response from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the Kandi incident.

They later walked out protesting against the inaction of the police and the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

This drew angry reactions from Banerjee, who described the Left protest as "undemocratic" and called for the arrest of the lawmakers for brandishing "guns" inside the assembly.

"What has happened today in the assembly is very unfortunate. It reflects their frustration and political bankruptcy. I think they should be arrested," Banerjee said in the assembly.

On the Kandi incident, Banerjee said: "Police are investigating the matter. But we have information that the incident was stage managed. The people with guns were planted. The police are probing if the guns were real or toy guns."

Left leader Surjya Kanta Mishra in turn asked the chief minister to concentrate on arresting the criminals who brandished "real guns" in the procession.

"She is calling for our arrest and seizing toy guns. I want to ask why the police have not arrested those who brandished real guns? How many of those guns have been seized?" asked Mishra, leader of the opposition and the state secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist.

--Indo-Asian News service

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